Eric Holder wants Texas to clear voting changes with feds (VIDEO)
US Attorney General Eric Holder gives a speach at Northwestern Law School on March 5, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois.
Attorney General Eric Holder wants any changes in Texas voting laws run by the federal government first for the next decade in an effort to protect voting rights.
Holder, speaking before the Urban League in Philadelphia, said the Justice Department plans to seek a court order requiring the oversight as early as the end of day on Thursday.
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It's the first of likely many attempts by the Obama administration to reimpose "preclearance" requirements in states that have historically discriminated against minority voters.
Many states across the South, including Texas, have been rushing to enact new restrictions on voting eligibility after the Supreme Court struck down a portion of the Voting Rights Act last month.
The act had required those states to get approval from Washington before making changes to voting laws.
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"Even as Congress considers updates to the Voting Rights Act in light of the court's ruling, we plan, in the meantime, to fully utilize the law's remaining sections to ensure that the voting rights of all American citizens are protected," Holder said.
Texas is currently embroiled in two ongoing lawsuits over its voter identification law and new voting boundaries created by the legislature.
The state's attorney general has vowed to enact the laws following the high court's voting rights ruling.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry criticized Holder's remarks on the state's "voter integrity" laws.
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